Archive for
January, 2014

Even NBA stars sometimes suffer off-court disappointments, people. Here’s New York Newsday with an item on Carmelo Anthony:

Carmelo Anthony can’t believe the Super Bowl is so close to home and he won’t be able to go to it.

The Knicks play the Heat at Madison Square Garden Saturday night, but will fly Sunday to Milwaukee. They play the Bucks Monday night, but according to NBA rules teams have to be in the city the night before the game.

“We got to go, man,” Anthony said. “I wish we can go to the Super Bowl. Rarely do we get a chance to participate in the Super Bowl and the events and stuff that’s going on around here.”

The Los Angeles D-Fenders have acquired former Los Angeles Lakers forward Shawne Williams, by way of a successful waiver claim, it was announced today by General Manager Nick Mazzella.

Williams (6’9” / 230) was selected in the first round (17th selection) of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Most recently, he spent 32 games (11 starts) with the Lakers this season, posting averages of 5.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20.2 minutes. The Memphis native has appeared in 247 career NBA games (34 starts) with the Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets and Lakers. Williams has also played for Guangzhou Liu Sui, of the Chinese National Basketball League.

An alumnus of the University of Memphis, Williams averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his lone season with the Tigers (2005-06). Williams led Memphis to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament, along with Conference-USA regular season and tournament championships in 2006. The Laurinburg Institute graduate also earned Conference-USA Freshman of the year, All-Conference-USA third team and Conference-USA Tournament MVP honors.

Here’s the Oklahoman with a report on guard Royal Ivey, whose time with the Thunder will reportedly be followed by basketball work in China:

Royal Ivey’s latest stint in the NBA came with an unblemished record. And it will end that way.

During his recent 10-day contract with the Thunder, which expired on Sunday, Ivey received an offer to play in China.

And because of that, the likable but sporadically used Thunder guard will hop overseas for the final month-and-a-half of the Chinese season, rather than signing another 10-day contract with the Thunder.

During Ivey’s 10 days in OKC, he only appeared in two games, playing five minutes and grabbing one rebound. But his arrival coincided with the team’s sudden turnaround. The Thunder went 7-0 with Ivey.

Kendrick Lamar is one of the top rappers around these days. Imagine Dragons make some great music. Throw Kendrick and Imagine Dragons together for a live performance at the 2014 Grammy awards and the result was something awesome. Enjoy:

Sunday in New York the Knicks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers. With Kobe Bryant and several other Lakers out injured, the Knicks, led by Carmelo Anthony’s 35 points, came away with a 110-103 win.

Will Melo someday bolt New York and join up with Bryant and the Lakers? For now, that’s just baseless speculation, and there’s no concrete reason to believe it’ll happen. While you ponder this, enjoy this photo of Melo and Kobe saying hello after the game:

Here’s CSNNE reporting on the Boston Celtics, who may keep Chris Johnson around a bit longer:

Chris Johnson had one more shot to impress the Boston Celtics’ brass before his 10-day contract would be over.

And just as he has done throughout his time with the Celtics, he didn’t disappoint which is why Boston is expected to sign him to a second, 10-day contract prior to Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks.

Johnson’s contract, signed on Jan. 17, was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

“The coaches and GMs like me. That’s a good thing,” Johnson told CSNNE.com. “I’m just going to stay after it and stay hungry.”

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Manny Harris to a second 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

In five games with the Lakers this season, Harris is averaging 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 20.9 minutes.

Before signing his first 10-Day contract with the Lakers on January 16th, Harris was most recently a member of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ NBA Development League affiliate, and was the D-League’s leading scorer at 30.6 points per game. Overall, in 13 games with the D-Fenders (13 starts) this season, Harris averaged 30.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 48.5% from the field. On January 13, Harris was named the NBA D-League Performer of the Week for the second consecutive time, and fourth time in his career.

In his previous 80 career NBA games (20 starts) with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, the Detroit, Michigan native averaged 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.4 minutes per game.

The Brooklyn Nets are winning lately, having enjoyed victories in nine of their last ten games. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — right? Point guard Deron Williams, who certainly gets paid like a starter, has been coming off the bench, and chemistry-wise it’s been working. It’ll be interesting to see how long this continues. Here’s ESPN New York on the situation:

Since returning to the lineup, Deron Williams has given the Brooklyn Nets’ second unit a major lift.

In his third game coming off the bench Friday night, Williams had 18 points — 14 in the second half — and 11 assists to just one turnover in 35 minutes.

“I felt pretty good,” said Williams, who has dealt with ankle injuries all season. “I’m getting a rhythm back and trying to get healthy and get back to playing like I’m capable.”

Williams made the selfless decision to work his way back into the rotation slowly, rather than disrupt the chemistry that starters Shaun Livingston, Alan Anderson, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have formed.

The Phoenix Suns have recalled guard Archie Goodwin from the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, the team announced today.

Phoenix originally assigned the rookie guard to their D-League affiliate on Jan. 23. Selected with the 29th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Goodwin appeared in two games for the Jam, averaging 29.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 44.0 minutes. The 19-year-old tallied 32 points, shooting 15-of-18 from the free throw line, against Sioux Falls on Friday and scored 27 points against Reno on Saturday.

Goodwin will be with the Suns for their game tonight at the Cleveland Cavaliers. The contest will tip off at 4:00 p.m. (Phoenix time) and will be televised on FOX Sports Arizona with radio broadcast on Arizona Sports 620 (KTAR-AM).

Here’s the Dallas Morning News talking to former NBA player Jim Jackson, who discusses why the era of the “Three Js” never flourished:

Jim Jackson: “It’s a couple of things. It’s not as easy to point to one thing, but I try to tell people this all the time that I was the first when I came in in ’92. Jamal came in the following year, so we got a chance to play 82 games together, Jamal and myself. When Jason [Kidd] came in my third year (Jamal’s second) I got hurt 51 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. The following year, Jamal got hurt 20 games into the season, so we never completed an 82-game season. Then the following year, we all got traded. Now, couple that with that during my five years here in Dallas, had three different ownership groups … Then you also have four different coaches … We never really had an honest shot at it really working because of all the moving parts that took place.”

“It’s more so the outside influences that kind of took hold of what was going on. And a lot of it had to do with management that didn’t understand how to really get these three young guys and build around it, and I love Donald Carter to death, but from a management perspective, I think you can see a difference between a Mark Cuban and what the past ownerships were able to do.”

Here’s the Oklahoman reporting on Thunder forward Kevin Durant, who is simply going nuts on the court lately:

Want an idea of how unguardable Kevin Durant has been lately? Just take a look at the postgame quotes from Sixers coach Brett Brown. Durant went off for 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, his fifth career triple-double. And an perplexed Brown had no answers postgame.

Brown: “I thought we did a pretty good job on him. We try, we get small guys chasing him around, denying him and fronting him, and we get everybody scared because he’s Kevin Durant, because he’s so long and scores in such a variety of ways. He is the NBA’s hardest player. He’s always been an incredibly difficult guard. I gameplanned back in my Spur days. How do you guard him? Is it Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, whoever. I thought our guys, I thought James (Anderson) was great and you look down and he’s got a triple double.”

- Durant is now averaging 36.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 13 January games.

- In his last five games, Durant has scored 198 points on 70-of-107 shooting (65 percent).

The Toronto Raptors lost yesterday, but there was still a fun story on their side of things: A ridiculous 51-point game from Terrence Ross. Here’s the Toronto Sun reporting:

Dwane Casey was probably the only person in the building who didn’t enjoy Saturday’s Raptors-Clippers tilt.

Terrence Ross certainly enjoyed it.

In as entertaining a contest as the Air Canada Centre has seen in years, the teams played high-octane, all-out offensive basketball, but the undermanned Raptors came up short 126-118 despite a franchise-record-tying 51 points by Ross.

And, in the end, though frustrated to lose, even the famously defensive-minded Raptors head coach couldn’t help but marvel at what went on.

“For the fans it was a great exhibition of basketball,” Casey said. “The young man, Terrence, picked it up. We lose DeMar (DeRozan) and put on a heck of a display. Not only did he have 51 points, he had nine rebounds which was huge too.”

Ross spearheaded the Toronto attack with his dazzling display, including a club-record seven three-pointers in the first half, in a performance reminiscent of the Vince Carter glory days. Carter scored his 51 back in 2000 against Phoenix, in a game telecast across North America.

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have recalled center Vitor Faverani from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Faverani, a 6’11” center, appeared in one game for the Red Claws while he was on assignment against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on January 25 and recorded 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a block in just under 26 minutes of action.

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has claimed third-year forward Malcolm Thomas off waivers.

The 25-year-old Thomas (6-9, 225, San Diego State) was waived by San Antonio on January 23 after appearing in one game this season, scoring two points, grabbing nine rebounds with two blocks in 15 minutes vs. Milwaukee on January 19. He also appeared in 10 games while on assignment with the Spurs’ NBA Development League affiliate, the Austin Toros, where he averaged 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.40 blocks. Thomas was signed by the Spurs on Dec. 3 as a D-League call-up from the Los Angeles D-Fenders, for whom he appeared in two games and was averaging a league-best 33.5 points and 15.5 rebounds.

The former San Diego State Aztec has appeared in a total of 16 career NBA games over three seasons with San Antonio, Golden State and Chicago, averaging 1.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5.4 minutes. He previously saw action in three games for the Spurs during the 2011-12 season, and spent time with both the Warriors (five games) and Bulls (seven games) in 2012-13. Thomas also appeared briefly in three games for the Bulls in the 2013 NBA Playoffs.

Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting on injured Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, who despite still working to regain health already may have some firm summer plans:

Derrick Rose issued a statement Thursday that he’d like to be ready to play for USA Basketball in this summer’s FIBA World Cup in Spain, and according to a source close to the situation, because Rose is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery, he will.

‘‘No doubt he will [play],’’ the source said Friday.

Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee on Nov. 22. The Bulls immediately ruled him out for the season.

He started shooting and taking part in two-a-day workouts during the last week, but his status in returning this NBA season hasn’t changed.

This summer will be a different story after he was one of 28 players named for the 2014-16 USA national team pool Thursday.

Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on a fun night in Brooklyn that featured a lot of swishes from outside when Mirza Teletovic touched the ball:

Benched and frustrated for most of his short NBA career, Mirza Teletovic said all along that he only needed a chance.

The Bosnian with a sweet jump shot is now taking advantage.

Teletovic erupted in the second quarter of the Nets’ 107-106 victory Friday night over the Mavericks at Barclays Center, scoring 24 of his career-high 34 points while hitting six consecutive three-pointers. His blazing trail from long distance keyed a 27-12 run by the Nets (19-22), who never trailed in the second half (although things got dicey in the final seconds) and won for the seventh straight time at home.

“It speaks a lot about (Teletovic). He was definitely frustrated last (season) with his lack of playing time,” Deron Williams said. “He had been one of the top players in Europe for a long time, and it was little hit to his ego. He felt like he could contribute and help and he didn’t really get that opportunity. Now that he is, he’s making the most of it.”

NBA teams, even the bad ones, generally play fairly well in their own arena. But here’s Michigan Live on the Detroit Pistons’ home struggles:

Here’s how absurd this Detroit Pistons season has become: Andre Drummond finally got his first 20-20 game, the Pistons went on a 30-4 scoring run, and the New Orleans Pelicans were playing short in the backcourt and without four of their top six scorers.

And the Pistons still lost.

Eric Gordon’s driving basket with 1.9 seconds left for a 103-101 Pelicans win wrapped another blown fourth-quarter lead for the Pistons, who were up by 10 with less than six minutes remaining.

As the game ended, with Maurice Cheeks bellowing for a timeout his team never called, the head coach was left to stare into the crowd at a fan who lobbed a vile curse at him for having rookie guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — arguably the Pistons’ best guard defender — on Gordon for the game-winning isolation play.

“I don’t even know what he said,” Cheeks said. “I was focused in on the play itself.”

Cheeks said he stared into the crowd out of sheer dismay after the Pistons (17-26) slipped to 7-15 at home and lost at The Palace of Auburn Hills for the eighth time in their last nine home games.

The city clerk rejected a ballot measure Friday that would have let Sacramento voters decide whether public subsidies can help build a $448 million downtown arena intended as the future home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

City Clerk Shirley Concolino cited multiple issues with the petitions that would have put the subsidies on the June ballot.

“I’ve never seen a petition with as many flaws as this one,” she told The Sacramento Bee.

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork and Voters for a Fair Arena Deal collected nearly 23,000 signatures, an effort that was funded in large part by wealthy Seattle hedge fund manager Chris Hansen. He led a coalition that lost its attempt to buy the Kings and move the team to Washington state.